365 Days of Praise: Day 3 June 4, 2011

My great grandmother was a loving woman who always saw the good in people no matter what the situation. I remember her telling me a story of when her and my great grandfather's car broke down. They stopped in to this little hometown auto shop and the guy told them they needed a belt for the car. "He was a nice old man," my great grandmother said "and he went out of his way to help us. The darn belt didn't work because he sold us the wrong one, but he meant well." That was always her way of looking at life; always try to find the good in people. I used to love listening to her stories from long ago. It's funny how as a child you don't appreciate those little things. Now as an adult I so yearn for her to tell me more stories. Like how she and my great grandfather founded the baptist church in their little town in Alabama and my great grandfather was a minister there. Her philosphy on how to keep her mind sharp; she would do a crossword puzzle everyday and read her bible daily. "This is how I will keep my mind, ya know your mind is like a muscle ya need to work it everyday." How I miss listening to her play her guitar and singing gospel music with her twang.

Her passion was quilting; and I don't mean with a sewing machine. She would get fabrics or hand-me-down fabric and use newspapers to make her patterns. She would then cut her fabric by hand and pin each little piece together to make her one of a kind quilt. I can remember visiting her in Alabama and in her back room she would have the old style set up (like the quilting bees) to place her quilt on. Each stitch was hand sewn with love and passion. I can't even tell you how many quilts she created over the years. I do remember
one year she told me she paid the lawn quy with a quilt because she didn't have the money to pay him to cut her grass! I couldn't believe it. I told her, "Grandma those quilts are worth alot of money, don't give them away I want to keep them in the family." So I bought the four quilts she had. One of the gifts she did give me was a lesson on quilting. What a priceless gift! As we sat in her quilting room she explained to me how a nine block quilt would be the easiest for me to learn. She then proceeded to show me how to get started. When I got home I actually did make one for my son. It was a nine block as she showed me and I made it in the color blue (in memory of my grandmother, Vera since my son used to call her Grandma Blue). The fabric also had little white hearts on it symbolizing love for my son. He has it to this day and he is 23yrs old.
That is the one and only quilt that I made, too much work for me, but I am so grateful for having this talent passed on from my great grandmother.